Expandable waste ink receptacle for micro-fluid supply item

ABSTRACT

A consumable supply item for an imaging device holds an initial or refillable volume of fresh fluid for use in an imaging device. A housing defines an interior having an expandable fluid receptacle to receive waste fluid from the imaging device. As the fresh fluid depletes in the interior over time, the fluid receptacle expands as it accommodates waste fluid. In this way, a single container can both 1) supply fresh fluid and 2) retrieve waste fluid. When full of fresh fluid initially, the fluid receptacle is empty in a compressed state. Upon fresh fluid leaving the container for the imaging device, waste fluid can begin filling the receptacle. Upon depletion of fresh fluid, the container is full of waste fluid. The container is ready for disposal or recycling.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to micro-fluid applications, such as inkjet printing. It relates particularly to supply item containers holding fresh fluid, but doubling as a receptacle for waste fluid as the fresh fluid depletes over time. Expandable fluid receptacles facilitate the embodiments.

BACKGROUND

The art of printing images with micro-fluid technology is relatively well known. A replaceable or (semi)permanent ejection head has access to a local or remote supply of fluid (e.g., ink). The fluid ejects from an ejection zone to a print media in a pattern of pixels corresponding to images being printed.

In industrial or high-capacity printers, large volumes of waste ink accumulate during times of head maintenance or the like. While such printers have devices to accommodate waste ink, each has its shortcomings. Some printers utilize felt or other materials to absorb waste ink and let it evaporate over time. Some printers utilize waste cartridges that users put in place, swap, empty, dispose, etc. during times of maintenance to capture waste ink in a specialty container. The former is messy. It also demands copious amounts of absorbent material in high volume printers. The latter is inconvenient and similarly can be messy.

A need exists in the art to better handle waste ink. The need extends not only to convenience and clean handling, but to simplicity and financial economy. Additional benefits and alternatives are also sought.

SUMMARY

The above-mentioned and other problems become solved with containers having expandable waste ink receptacles for micro-fluid applications. The containers doubly serve as sources of fresh fluid for imaging devices and receptacles for waste fluid spent by the same imaging devices.

A consumable supply item for an imaging device holds an initial or refillable volume of fresh fluid for use in an imaging device. A housing defines an interior having an expandable fluid receptacle to receive waste fluid from the imaging device. As the fresh fluid depletes in the interior over time, the fluid receptacle expands as it accommodates waste fluid. In this way, a single container supplies fresh fluid and retrieves waste fluid from an imaging device. When initially full of fresh fluid, the fluid receptacle is empty in a compressed state. Upon fresh fluid leaving the container for the imaging device, waste fluid is able to enter the receptacle. Upon depletion of fresh fluid, the container is full of waste fluid. The container is ready for disposal or recycling.

Other embodiments contemplate a hydrophobic membrane on the fluid receptacle that is permeable to air to equalize pressure inside the fluid receptacle as the fluid receptacle fills with waste fluid during use. The receptacle is a polymer film or other structure that can be compressed initially and expanded later. The film is impermeable to fluid. Plastic films having been folded and elastomers having been deflated or crumpled typify initial states. Other films contemplate polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride or polytetrafluoroethylene.

In other embodiments, fluid ports reside on the housing to communicate the interior of the housing to fluid or air sources outside of the housing. A first port is a fresh fluid exit port to supply the volume of fresh fluid to an imaging device. A second port is an air vent port to vent the interior with air from outside the housing. A third port is a waste fluid inlet port to receive waste fluid from the imaging device. The ports are any of a variety but contemplate a ball biased shut with a spring.

These and other embodiments are set forth in the description below. Their advantages and features will become readily apparent to skilled artisans. The claims set forth particular limitations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a diagrammatic view of a container having fresh fluid with an expandable fluid receptacle for waste ink;

FIG. 1B is a view similar to FIG. 1A with a lower level of fresh fluid and a fluid receptacle partially filled with waste fluid;

FIG. 1C is a diagrammatic view of ports of the container interfacing with an imaging device;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a hydrophobic membrane on an expandable fluid receptacle in a container;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are views showing an expandable fluid receptacle in compressed and expanded states; and

FIGS. 4A and 4B are views of alternate embodiments similar to FIGS. 3A and 3B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings where like numerals represent like details. The embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense and the scope of the invention is defined only by the appended claims and their equivalents. In accordance with the features of the invention, containers have expandable fluid receptacles to receive waste fluid from imaging devices for use in micro-fluid applications.

With reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a supply item container 10 for use in an imaging device includes a housing 12. The housing defines an interior 14 that contains an initial or refillable supply of fresh fluid, e.g. ink 16. The fluid is any of a variety, but typifies aqueous inks such as those based on dye or pigmented formulations. It also represents varieties of color, such as cyan, magenta, yellow, black, etc. The item is useful in many applications such as inkjet printing, but certainly can be useful with other fluids in medicinal delivery, forming circuit traces, food processing, chemical manufacturing, etc.

During use, the volume of ink depletes downward toward a bottom surface 18 of the interior of the housing in a direction of gravity G. The bottom surface is generally flat or inclined to funnel ink out of the interior. The ink flows to an imaging device by way of a fresh fluid exit port 20. An air venting port 22 provides an intake of ambient, recycled or other air to overcome backpressure in the interior 14 that increases during imaging operations. The ports are any of a variety but typify cylindrical tubes 24 biased shut with an internal ball 26 and spring 28 (FIG. 1C). They are mated with a septum needle 30 from the imaging device. The needle inserts into the ports to overcome the bias of the spring and the ball slides backward. Upon sufficient insertion, openings in the port and needle 32, 34 are communicated so that a fluidic channel opens between the interior 14 of the housing and the needle. The fluidic channel is either air or liquid.

Within the interior 14, an expandable fluid receptacle 50 receives waste fluid 52 from outside the housing and expands in size as the volume of fresh fluid 16 depletes in the interior over time. The waste ink comes from the imaging device that accumulates during times of head maintenance or the like. The waste ink is received by the housing at a waste fluid inlet port 40 connected to the expandable fluid receptacle. The waste fluid inlet port is the same as the other ports (FIG. 1C).

With reference to FIG. 2, the fluid receptacle 50 includes a hydrophobic membrane 54 that is permeable to air. The membrane faces an air cavity 60 in the interior 14 to equalize pressure inside the expandable fluid receptacle as the fluid receptacle fills with the waste fluid. In turn, the air cavity connects to the air vent port 22 and pressure inside the fluid receptacle is equalized to atmospheric conditions. An undersurface 56 of the membrane can adhere to an exterior surface 58 of the fluid receptacle and cover/seal an otherwise open portion of the fluid receptacle 50. The membrane can alternatively weld to the receptacle. The membrane is as thin as possible but may define a thickness of at least a few mils. Representative membranes contemplate the use of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or other materials. Membranes of this type are sometimes referred to as “breather” vents.

The receptacle itself is a polymer film or other structure that can be compressed initially and expanded later. The film is impermeable to fluid. With reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the receptacle 50 is plastic film having been folded along fold lines 51 in its initial collapsed state (3A), later expanded with waste ink 52 (3B). In FIGS. 4A and 4B, the receptacle 50 is an elastomer having been deflated or crumpled in its initial collapsed state (4A), later expanded with waste ink 52 (4B). Representative films in either instance contemplate polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride or polytetrafluoroethylene films.

EXAMPLE

During use, a polymer film in a container is used to separate the supply of fresh ink from waste ink. When the container is new, the fresh ink occupies nearly all the volume of the container interior leaving little volume for the film which is otherwise empty of waste ink and compressed. When the container is 75% full of fresh ink, the volume of the interior is now able to accommodate expansion of the polymer film and waste ink up to 25%. Upon the container reaching 50% fresh fluid, up to 50% of the container is available for expansion of the film and waste ink. This continues until the fresh ink is depleted from the container (or mostly depleted as residual fresh ink will remain stranded in a bottom of the container) and the expandable fluid receptacle is full (or partially full as imaging devices do not necessarily create waste ink in an exact proportion to its consumption of fresh ink). When the container depletes itself of fresh ink, the container and its waste ink can be disposed, recycled, etc.

Regardless of design, common constraints for containers are noted. For example, it is expected that the housing is any of a variety of containers for holding fluid. It can typify plastic, glass, metal, etc. It can be recyclable or not. It can contemplate simplicity or complexity. Techniques for production are varied, but blow molding, injection molding, etc. are common considered herein. With blow molding, the housing 12 can be made of unitary construction to define the interior 14. Welding, heat-staking, bonding, dies, etc. are also envisioned. The materials, construction, shipping, storage, use, etc. of the housing can also focus design criteria on items, such as cost, ease of manufacturing, durability, or other. Its shape is nearly infinite. Implicating its selection are good engineering practices such as contemplation of a larger imaging context in which the housing will be used. In the design given, the housing is generally elongated from its back end 39 to its port end 41. The port end inserts forward into an imaging device as the back end is pushed upon by users. The shape also contemplates seals and septums or the like which may find utility in the design at the interface joints between the ports and the imaging device.

The foregoing illustrates various aspects of the invention. It is not intended to be exhaustive. Rather, it is chosen to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention. All modifications and variations are contemplated within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims. Relatively apparent modifications include combining one or more features of various embodiments with features of other embodiments. 

1. A container to hold an initial or refillable volume of fresh fluid, comprising: a housing defining an interior to retain the volume of fresh fluid, and an expandable fluid receptacle inside the interior to receive waste fluid from outside the housing, wherein the expandable fluid receptacle has a hydrophobic membrane permeable to air to equalize pressure inside the expandable fluid receptacle as the fluid receptacle fills with the waste fluid.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The container of claim 1, wherein the housing further includes a fresh fluid exit port, the interior being oriented during use to deplete the volume of fresh fluid toward the fresh fluid exit port.
 4. The container of claim 1, wherein the housing further includes an air vent port to vent the interior with air from outside the housing.
 5. The container of claim 1, wherein the housing further includes a waste fluid inlet port.
 6. The container of claim 1, wherein the housing further includes three ports to communicate the interior of the housing to outside of the housing, a first port being a fresh fluid exit port to supply the volume of fresh fluid. to an imaging device, a second port being an air vent port to vent the interior with air from outside the housing, and a third port being a waste fluid inlet port to receive said waste fluid from the imaging device.
 7. A container to hold an initial or refillable volume of fresh fluid, comprising: a housing defining an interior to retain the volume of fresh fluid; and an expandable fluid receptacle inside the interior to receive waste fluid from outside the housing and. keep separate the waste fluid from the fresh fluid as the fluid receptacle fills with the waste fluid and expands in size as the volume of fresh fluid depletes in the interior over time,. wherein the expandable fluid receptacle includes a hydrophobic membrane permeable to air to equalize pressure inside the expandable fluid receptacle as the fluid receptacle fills with the waste fluid.
 8. The container of claim 7, wherein the expandable fluid receptacle is a polymer film impermeable to fluid that is initially configured in the interior in a collapsed state.
 9. The container of claim 8, wherein the collapsed state includes a plastic film having been folded.
 10. The container of claim 8, wherein the collapsed state includes an elastomer in a deflated or crumpled state.
 11. The container of claim 8, wherein the polymer film includes polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride or polytetrafluoroethylene.
 12. (canceled)
 13. The container of claim 7, wherein the hydrophobic membrane is polytetrafluoroethylene or a breather vent. 